(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a non-transitory computer readable medium.
(ii) Related Art
An image forming apparatus is available which forms an image on a recording medium, such as paper, by transferring component-color images formed by using colorants of plural component colors. For example, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus which uses toners of four colors including yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (B) as colorants forms a color image by transferring four component-color images onto a recording medium. The four component-color images are a Y-component-color image formed by using a yellow toner, an M-component-color image formed by using a magenta toner, a C-component-color image formed by using a cyan toner, and a K-component-color image formed by using a black toner. Accordingly, a color image having various colors is expressed by superimposition of the limited component colors. The following methods may be used as an image forming method for the image forming apparatus: a method for directly transferring plural component-color images onto a recording medium one by one; and a method for transferring plural component-color images onto an intermediate transfer body in a superimposed manner and then transferring the plural component-color images superimposed on the intermediate transfer body onto a recording medium at one time.
The image forming apparatus transfers component-color images onto a recording medium in accordance with an operation condition defined by a transfer parameter. The transfer parameter may be, for example, a value which defines a voltage applied to a transfer roller (transfer voltage). The optimum value of the transfer parameter varies depending on an environment in which the image forming apparatus is used, the type of recording medium to be used, etc.